It’s a tale as old as time….

There was once a young girl who grew up wanting to be just like the girl from a Disney movie. She related to her on so many levels, through the characters love for reading, singing and dancing to looking for the good in people. As she grew older, she tried to treat people with equal care and love no matter their appearance. Then one day she found out that they would be bringing her favourite movie back to life and the lead role would be played by an actress who she admired greatly….

So as you know I am celebrating The Spanish Bluebell’s 2nd Birthday this month. Now this has got me reminiscing over the last couple of years and has brought back up a few places I have wanderlusting to visit. I thought I would share a my top 8 of these places with you today and also give you a wee incentive to share your own wanderlust list with me! (Giveaway now CLOSED.)

Anyway lets do this!

Photo credit to Traveltipoffs

#1 Spain

Of course Spain is on the very top of my list. I have been yearning to return to Spain ever since leaving the country when I was 6 and a half. I haven’t been back at all since then and I would love to finally experience Spain as an adult. I love everything to do with Spain, I mean I even name my blog after it!

Photo credit to All World Towns

#2 Venice, Italy

Even though I would love to visit all of Italy, I have always had a bit of a fascination with Venice in particular. I love being around water whether at the beach or near a river so the winding canals of Venice have always been enticing. I’ve always wanted to go to one of their masquerades and festivals, plus I want to own one of their gorgeous masks!

Photo credit to J & J Blog

#3 Paris, France

How could I write a Wanderlust list and not include Paris!? The draw of Paris is rather obvious, as one of the most romantic and classy cities in the world. Everything about Paris fascinates me, the fashion, the language, the landmarks (yes I’m talking about you Eiffel Tower.)

Photo Credit to Joe Penniston (Flickr user)

#4 Disneyland

Okay so I know that Disneyland is neither a city, nor a country, but it just had to be on my list! I am a huge Disney fan and don’t think I will ever grow up when it comes to Disney. Disneyland has always been on my Wanderlust list as it just seems like such a magical place. Who knows when I’ll get to go there, whether it be in the next few years on when I have my own family. Either way I am excited to one day be able to explore Walt Disney’s world.

#5 Russia

Ever since watching Anastasia as a young girl, I have always wanted to visit Russia. I would love to travel on the trans-Siberian Railway as I just adore train travel. Plus the architecture is something so different to most Western European countries. I specifically asked my Year 12 history teacher if we could study the Russian Revolution because Russia just has such an intriguing history.

Photo credit to Unique Vacations

#6 Fiji

Who can resist the allure of a sunny beach, snorkelling, miniature ponies and welcoming people? Not me, that’s who. My best friend is half Fijian, so ever since we became friends Fiji has been on my list of places to visit.

London – Big ben and houses of parliament, UK

#7 London, England

Okay so I pretty much want to go everywhere in the United Kingdom, but London will always have a special draw for me. This has a lot to do with the fact that I am a huge Harry Potter fan. (If you are wondering what house I am in, I am a Hufflepuff.) Also another of my favourite Disney films is 101 Dalmatians, which is set in London. I want to ride on a Double Decker bus, visit Harry Potter World, see Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and the London Eye.

#8 New Zealand!

Last but not least, and probably the most unexpected of all in my own home country, New Zealand! Now you might think that it’s a bit crazy that New Zealand made my list, however how many of you have truly explored your own country? When putting pins in the places I have been to around New Zealand, my map looks pretty sparse. I already have a trip to Dunedin and Queenstown planned for my birthday (exciting!!!) but I still have so much more to see! Plus I have never been to Hobbiton, and as a newly recruited fan of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, I want to visit it before I leave the country!

Giveaway CLOSED

So as I said in yesterday’s post, and hinted above, I have a wee incentive for you. Aelia Duty Free New Zealand and Webjet have each kindly provided me with a $50 Duty Free voucher for one of you lucky readers. (So that is one of 2 vouchers you could win!!) All you have to do is comment below which cities or countries are on your Wanderlust list, enter your details in the Rafflecopter app below and you are in to win!

Hey there! So I realised that it has been a little while since I have done an update of my 101 things in 1001 days challenge. Since my last update in January I have completed 9 more of my challenges which brings the total to 16 completed.

#28 Successfully relaunch this blog with a new name

You will have seen a couple of posts about this by now, but if you haven’t, on the 26tg of April Child of Ponderings changed to The Spanish Bluebell. You can read all about the redesign process and the meaning behind the symbols in my header and logo right here on the blog.

#33 Buy something off of Etsy

I bought the watercolour prints in this post off Kate Ranfurly Design’s Etsy. (Yes they are the ones above.) I commissioned Kate to do these watercolours of me and my best friend for her 20th birthday.

Glad to see that you have all (I hope) survived another Valentine’s day, whether you spent it alone, with friends and family or with your special someone. Well me, I spent Valentines day as a single lady (18th year running) by myself but also, thank god, with a friend. And to be completely honest it was just like any other day to me. I never really have felt the need for the big fuss that is Valentines day purely because for the past 18 years I haven’t had anyone to make it special. But that isn’t what this post is about.

I guess in a way you could say that this year (now that I am 18) I almost hid from V-day because a lot of my friends seem to be in relationships now, which is completely fine. (What I don’t get is those 12-year-old kids who think they are dating but hey, that’s cool too just totally wasn’t my thing.) So this year this was the line-up for my Valentines day.

– Breakfast was completely normal. I ate alone because I woke up after all my family was at school.

– At 9.50am I biked to my lovely friend Sasha’s house where we spent the remainder of the morning trying to figure out our university timetables so that we would be in at least 1 lecture together for our Psychology class, which makes uni seem a little less daunting. Also in this time I was sending cute valentines day messages to my friends like this one: